Peter Kropotkin

Conquest of Bread (Working Classics)

Elena Ackermann Ferrari

I don't think there has ever been a book that has made me feel quite as optimistic as The Conquest of Bread. I had been planning on reading this book for so long now – pretty much since I discovered what exactly Anarchism was and how closely my views aligned with it – but up to this point I had always stopped reading leftist pieces of literature only a few pages in, as I hadn't been used to the more complicated writing and – at least that was the case with the ones I had begun to read – the settings much in pasts of which I know something but not a lot, and certainly not conditions of the working class, as that isn't too big of a focus for many parts of history studied in school.

The first thing that spoke to me – except for The Conquest of Bread being a generally important Anarchist book – was its length. In something that can only be called pure stupidity, I had decided to have Das Kapital be the first piece of leftist literature I would read, and after finally noticing that maybe I had overestimated myself, I had already lost hope in myself ever reading theory.

I can only hope, having read The Conquest of Bread might have repaired my confidence to a good level and I pick up some more theory that actually works well with my current understanding of both Anarchism and general leftism.

I found Kropotkin to be a person whose thoughts are intriguing to listen to, his thought process often scientific and factual, though sometimes taken over by optimistic visions of near-utopias. It was interesting to see in which ways his visions had played out (sadly rarely, most of them being about successful revolutions and the implementation of Anarchist Communism) and in which ways society had been able to progress in the ways he anticipated while still existing under Capitalism.

5/5 Stars

Tomasz

Napisana z dozą optymizmu w ludzkość, z rozmachem, a jednocześnie niezwykle przystępna. Słusznie polecana "początkującym".

Conquest of Bread (Working Classics)

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